BROOKE CHAPLEN says Reading cannot wait to try and “put right” the opening day defeat to Sunderland when they travel to face Liverpool on Friday night (7pm).
Royals have not hidden their ambition of trying to challenge in the top half of the league after bringing in the likes of England’s leading record appearance maker Fara Williams.
But they came up short against the Lady Black Cats at Adams Park, falling behind in the sixth minute after Simona Koren pounced on a howler from goalkeeper Mary Earps and despite long spells of possession, Reading could not find a way back into the contest.
“It’s not as if we played poorly,” Chaplen told The Wokingham Paper.
“I think we didn’t really execute how we want to play going forward.
“Mistakes happen and we conceded but I think our standards that we play now, we should be looking to get that game back and still get the three points.
“We didn’t stick to the gameplan and that cost us essentially.”
She continued: “We had lots of possession but we weren’t clever with it and we didn’t do the things that we felt would’ve broken them down better.
“We just lacked the patterns that we’d worked on in training and as a team we didn’t do them.
“We rallied (after the goal) but the quality that we lacked meant that we couldn’t get back into the game.”
Kelly Chambers handed a debut to Williams but was without the suspended Jo Potter and injured Becky Jane and Melissa Fletcher.
And Royals got off to a nightmare start when Earps, who has been one of the club’s stand-out performers since she arrived last year, scuffed a clearance straight to Koren to tap into an empty net.
From there it was nearly all Reading, controlling the game in the Sunderland half and having 15 shots on goal.
Mandy van den Berg and substitute Rachel Furness came closest to levelling the scores, but could not find a way past goalkeeper Anke Preuss.
And midfielder Chaplen feels it could take time for the side to reach their full potential.
“Although we’ve had a long pre-season, it’s been quite disjointed,” she said.
“The new players that have come in have actually been away for long periods of pre-season so we haven’t had loads of time playing together.
“That’s going to take time, getting used to how each other plays and gelling as a team in general.
“It’s not going to happen overnight.”
After such a long break, the turnaround is quick with Chambers taking her side to face Liverpool on Friday night.
And Chaplen cannot wait to get back out onto the pitch again.
“It is nice now to have games each week to be honest,” she said.
“For me it’s good that we’re playing more regularly and that the games are coming a little bit quicker than what they have done in the past.
“We’re excited to get back and put right the weekend’s result. We can’t wait.
“Liverpool will obviously pose us a massive threat.
“We’ll go up there looking to work hard and to impose ourselves on that game and hopefully come back with three points.”
